Infinite Spiral
by Izzu
Summary: The second invasion finally coming in commence. Sound attacking Konoha once more with the 'root's aid. And then... more questions. Questions answered... new ones sprout out... AU
1. Sudden Invasion

az: Just musing with this plot and hope that it will produce a good one. Hmm... Ne, does ALL Ninja stories have to end in sadness? Haii...

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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto manga or anything of it. If I OWNED it... will I be wasting my time here? Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Masashi Kishimoto-sama.

WARNING: Probably spoilers come due. And I like the idea of Yondaime is Naruto's father and that his name as Arashi. It was so... befitting that light-spirited jounin turned kage. Not sure of the surname though... And another theory involving Yondaime is 'also' interesting... so...?

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Infinite spiral (Title due to change)

Second Invasion

Written by Azzie/Az aka Izumi Ishtar

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'Hey... let me out of here! You can't do this on me! I had willingly came back, hadn't I? Why did you all treating me like this--?', cried the lad as the Fifth Hokage glared at him. She frowned as a piece of memory from a long-time past returned to mind. The same thing that she had once saw. The same darkness. Even though she had strong faith in Naruto's special gift which could pull almost anyone out of their darkness of hearts, she still couldn't trust the lad to not betray them again.

'Didn't you hear me? I had left his side! What more do you want? Proof? Just let me out of this-- _thing!' _, cried the lad again as he tried to free himself from the straightjacket. The Lady Godaime eyed him with amusement as Shizune rushed towards the room.

'Tsunade-sama! Taihen desu!', the girl cried as Tsunade turned her attention towards her. 'What is it, Shizune--?', she asked as Shizune explained. 'Orochimaru! Danzou and his roots team had already joined forces with him and he's bringing his Sound-nins to try invade us again--!'

Tsunade's eyes flared at the revelation. 'No-! How could this-- Had he learnt that Sai had turned back on his mission?', she asked as Shizune shook her head. 'I've checked... he's still in his room. Nobody had found out about him. The ANBU had already been dispatched to handle the situation. The Jounins and Chuunins have also gone out to defend the village... while some had joined in the battle with the enemy--'

Shizune chanced a guess as she spoke again. 'Tsunade-sama... perhaps since he had not seen Sai returning with the others that Danzou--' Tsunade frowned at this aspect as she stopped Shizune from finishing her sentence. Danzou perhaps had another backup plan but certainly she had not expected him sending another contact to Orochimaru this soon!

'Had they entered the village--?', she asked worriedly as to her relief, Shizune shook her head. 'The ANBU squad had drove them out into the forest not long ago. They still in battle with the intruders as we speak..', Tsunade nodded as she stormed into the balcony. 'Have several teams guard the village. We can't let the same thing happen to Konohagakure again!--', she barked as Sasuke cut in. 'Wait--! You guys just said about most of the chuunins and jounins going out to battle. What about Naruto--?', he cried as Tsunade-hime glanced towards Shizune in alarm.

Shizune glanced sideways guiltily as she let it out. 'Err... Naruto... The moment he heard that Orochimaru had come to attack, he'd just... But Kakashi-sensei and the others were catching up with him the last time I left them--'

Not waiting for her to finish, Tsunade turned to head towards the exit as Sasuke fell towards the floor, screaming. 'Let me go! That baka can't possibly fight him alone! Let me go!', cried the young Uchiha as he struggled to get up again. Tsunade sneered at him as she bowed over him. 'And what--? You'd expect me to just release you and let you fight with us? You won't betray us again and run away?', taunted Tsunade as Sasuke cried in panick.

'No way--?-! After having pulled out from that nightmare and almost killing Naruto again to regain my sanity, how could you think I want to go back to **him**?', cried Sasuke again as Tsunade and Shizune eyed him suspisciously. 'You don't want to seek revenge anymore? No more thirst for power?', snapped Tsunade again as Sasuke was on the verge of tears. No way... he had vowed that no matter what, he'll try to find a way to achieve Mangenkyo ability without having to kill the person that was precious to him as Itachi had goad him to do. Even as he almost... no, he doesn't want to think about the darkness that he had fallen into...

If he had, for another time lose the people that he had started to accept as being precious to him--? Even killing Itachi won't soothe his heart. And the Uchiba line would finally perish, since he wouldn't want to continue living after that...

He was so deep in remorse that he hadn't realized that the restraints on him had been removed. When he did, he looked up tear-stricken towards the fifth Hokage and her assistant.

'Come on... we'll lose enough time if we still stayed here...', she said as immediately she and Shizune disappeared from view. Wiping his face, he immediately grabbed his weapons and ran towards the scene of battle...

XXX

'No... I can't believe this!', cried Kiba as Akimichi Chouza glanced towards the lad. 'The Sound Four... no, Five! And to think that we had a hard time fighting them before!', cried Shikamaru also as Asuma-sensei tapped his shoulder. 'Don't be surprised. Orochimaru can use Edo Tensei--'

Kakashi frowned as he glanced towards Uzuki, one of the ANBU members. 'How about the rest of the enemies? Can you guys manage them off without us?', he whispered as Uzuki nodded from behind her mask. 'Don't worry about us. The keimu butai and some of the other Konoha-nins were assisting us with guarding the village and handling the enemies. Shizune-sama had left earlier to inform the Godaime-sama--'

Kakashi nodded as Uzuki and some of the ANBU members left the scene. The remaining ones had scattered themselves as they prepared for battle. 'Now... we need to divide ourselves evenly. Shikamaru! Chouji! Neji! Lee! Kiba! You guys had faced the Five before... so you guys assist the five teams. Divide yourself evenly... try to consider the abilities needed to fight them. The rest of you, stay with us to fight Kabuto and Orochimaru-- Where's Jiraiya-sama?'

Yamato answered as the one ANBU member had remained unmasked. 'Jiraiya-sama is currently assisting the others to fight off the Ne squad... he'll be coming after that--'

'I see... we have no choice then...', he said as immediately all of them spread out when Orochimaru launched his sudden attack towards them. The Sound Five took the cue and spread out as five teams chased after them. Orochimaru cackled aloud as Naruto jumped towards him. 'Teme---! Tajuu Kage Bunshin No Jutsu! Shuriken no Jutsu!', cried the jinchuuriki as he launched the attacks towards Orochimaru. Kabuto tried to stop him as Sakura cried aloud.

'Oh no you DONT'! SHAN----NAROO----!', cried the girl as she landed a strong power punch towards him. Kabuto was thrown a kilometre away. 'Arigato.. Sakura-chan!', said Naruto as he landed on the ground. Meanwhile his Kage Bunshin kept attacking Orochimaru as Kakashi assisted in the attack. Orochimaru countered, taking out multiple Kage Bunshins along with it as he prepared his attack. Yamato immediately made a few hand seals as he was about to launched his own assault.

'Mokuton Hijutsu! Jukai Kotan--!', exclaimed Yamato as giant saplings came out from the ground and attacked Orochimaru, driving him further from the village. Kabuto got up and was about to assist him as Sakura and some of the ANBU cornered him. 'Kabuto-san... you're not going anywhere. Kakashi-sensei... Yamato-Taicho! We'll handle Kabuto!', she cried as Orochimaru took this distraction to flee. Naruto snarled as he chased after Orochimaru rashly.

'Naruto! Wait--!', cried Kakashi as he and Yamato chased after the two. Immediately, some more Sound-nins blocked their way. 'Kakashi-senpai! I'll handle this. Go on... I'll join you later!', said Yamato as Kakashi flickered away.

Turning towards the new assailants, Yamato formed several hand seals again. 'Kokuangyo no Jutsu!', he cried as he pulled out his sword as darkness covered the place...

XXX

Orochimaru turned around as he found Naruto still following him 'Foolish child... how do you think coming against me again like this will work for your profit? Last time it was just luck that you could escape!', sneered Orochimaru as Naruto glared at him. 'This time... I'll take Sasuke back and make him mine...', he sneered again as his snake-like tongue tasted the air. Naruto glared at him as he tried to control his temper. Even though knowing that there was no one around other than the two of them, he still bear in mind on what Yamato had once told him.

'_I'll defeat you with my own power!'_

XXX

'Kuchiyose no Jutsu--!', cried Kakashi as his Ninkens emerged before him. 'Find Naruto!', he barked the order as Kakashi immediately Body Flicker away, replacing himself with a Kawarimi as he sensed an attacker from behind him. The shurikens hit the log as the attacker let out a curse. 'Damn.. that was close!', hissed the Sound nin as Kakashi voice boomed from below him.

'Doton, Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu!', he cried as his hand grabbed the nin's leg into the ground and launched several taijutsu moves as the nin was defeated. Kakashi came out of his hiding place as he looked back to find several of the nins, allies and enemies had dispersed from the main battlefield. But knowing that this time the chuunins had combined forces with the jounins and ANBU; even if the Sound Five had been resurrected, Konoha still had the advantage. The chuunins and jounins who once fought them; Nara, Neji, Chouji, Kiba and Lee, had already observed their fighting techniques.

Though, this time, Orochimaru had brought more Sound-nin along with Danzou's Ne squad aiding them. He never realized that Danzou had accumulated so many followers! They will have tougher battles this time for sure--

Kakashi turned his attention away as Pakkun hopped towards them. 'Boss... found the tracks!', said the Ninken as Kakashi nodded and followed the dog...

XXX

'Sawarabi no Mai!', cried Kimimaro as Lee cried aloud! 'Oh no! This jutsu... minna! Spread out!', he said as jounins and chuunins jumped away off the ground. Giant spikes emerged around them from the ground as everyone tried their best to evade. One of the spikes tripped Tenten as she lost her balance and almost fell towards one of the spikes.

'Tenten!', cried Lee as suddenly torrents of sand came up from nowhere and saved the kunoichi from near-impale. Mitarashi Anko looked up from her Snake Summon as she noticed Gaara coming to help. 'That boy...', thought the tokubetsu Jounin as Gaara spoke aloud. 'We've heard about the invasion attempt. I've called several of my Kazenins to help--', he said as his sands formed a shield from behind him where Kimimaro had sent another spike towards him. Gaara turned as Kimimaro sneered.

'Ohisashiburi... Wonder if this time you get lucky again? Teshi Sendan!', cried Kimimaro as he sent numerous projectiles towards them.

'Suna no Tate!', cried Gaara as he summoned the sands to shield them from the attacks. Tenten proceeds to pull out one of her scrolls to summon a large shuriken. She threw it towards Kimimaro as Anko readied her stance. 'Katon, Ryuuka no Jutsu--!', she cried as fire torrents rammed themselves towards Kimimaro and Tenten's shuriken managed to slice pass his shoulder. Kimimaro cursed under his breath as he breathed the words...

'Tessenka no Mai, Tsuru--!', he growled angrily as he pulled out his spine as a weapon. Lee and Gaara frowned as they recognized this move. Anko and Tenten arrived beside them as the jounin thanked Gaara. 'Appreciated the help... Combination attack-- Lee! Gaara-san! Tenten!'

The three teens nodded as they spread out. 'Gokusamaisou--', said Gaara he used the sand to render Kimimaro's movement immobile as Tenten, Lee and Anko launched their assault--

XXX

'haa... haa...', panted Sasuke as he restlessly followed behind Tsunade and Shizune. Along their way, they encountered several more nins as they tackled them. Some of them had been about his age... among the Ne members, he was latter told. People like Sai who had been trained since little to become tools for the village...

His own people. How can he have imagined such situation before where he had to fight his own people? Sasuke shivered at the thought that he could have had done it had he stayed longer beside Orochimaru's side. That cursed seal had been at some point controlled him through his mind that at that time, he never actually could differentiate his own will and Orochi's will of wanting to take over his body.

How could he have been so stupid...? If his urge for revenge almost cost him this much, he'd rather abandon that want. Even killing Itachi would not bring back the whole of Uchiha clan from the dead...

'Sasuke-- behind you!', cried Tsunade as Sasuke blinked, frozen as one of the legendary three ninja tackled the approaching Ne member, killing him. Tsunade glared at him. 'Unless you want to die freely, you better not come here!', she scolded as Sasuke stuttered his apologies. Tsunade immediately left with Shizune as they went out to treat the casualties. Gathering back his nerves, he immediately turned towards the northern forest as he followed his instincts as to where his comrades could have gone.

Not long after that, he caught sight of several ANBU members in battle as Yakushi Kabuto was about to tackle Sakura with one of his favourite moves--

'Katon! Housenka no Jutsu--!', he cried, finishing the set of hand seals as he ambushed Kabuto. The man backed away as Sasuke landed before Sakura. 'S-Sasuke-kun!', exclaimed Sakura as Sasuke helped her up. Kabuto sneered as he tried healing his injuries caused by the fire jutsu attack he received on his sides.

'So finally... Tired of hiding from us--?.', said Kabuto as Sasuke leered at him. 'Aah...', came the only reply...

XXX

'Gya---aaaahh!', cried Naruto as he was thrown aback. 'Naruto--! Suiton, Suiryuudan no Jutsu!', cried Kakashi as the water dragon smashed onto Orochimaru. He helped Naruto up as the jinchuuriki coughed out blood. 'No way... not even Oudama Rasengan worked aganst him!', spat Naruto as Kakashi grabbed his shoulder to hold him down. 'Don't be rash... you all right?', he asked as Naruto nodded. 'Good... keep your temper down. If you lose to the Kyuubi, you'll only hurt yourself--'

'So, until I could strengthen my own chakra... I shouldn't rely on that baka kitsune's power, isn't it?', said Naruto as Kakashi smirked. _After all, Yamato-Taicho had told him that much..._

'Good lad... jump!', he cried as several snakes hurled themselves towards their position. Naruto growled, 'Shihou Hapou Shuriken no Maki!', he cried as he summoned his Kage Bunshin to start the chain of shuriken attack. 'Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!', Kakashi retailates as Orochimaru summon a huge blast of wind to counter the barrage of shurikens from both ninjas. Orochi smirked as he muttered distractedly.

'I had no time to play with you two... Edo Tensei!', he cried as nothing happened. He cried out in disbelief as he summoned his Kusanagi Sword from his mouth. 'Die--!', cried Orochi as the sword extended towards Naruto, who had just landed on the ground in an alarming speed. Kakashi looked up in alarm as he tried to save Naruto.

'Shunshin no Jutsu!', cried Kakashi again as his form blurred from view...

The Kusanagi no Tsurugi continued its advance as it pierced flesh. Blood littered the land as Orochimaru grinned evilly. Naruto blinked as the blood from his heavily cut forehead almost blinded his view. 'Ka--Kakashi-sensei!', he gasped as he saw his sensei before him with the Kusanagi sword barely missed hitting his heart, but had punctured his lungs all the same. Naruto caught him as the sword retracted from his body.

'N-Naruto! You're not... badly hurt, is it?', Kakashi gasped as Naruto was on the verge of tears. Immediately he recollected how Iruka-sensei had also protected him from almost being killed by Mizuki's giant shuriken. He looked up as he glared angrily towards Orochimaru. Blood mixed with tears as Kyuubi's chakra started to seep out.

Noticing this, Kakashi quickly grasped Naruto's arm... gathering his remaining strength to stand upright. 'No... Naruto! Restrain yourself!', he cried. _If you turned right now, I cannot stop you in my current condition!_, thought Kakashi desperately as Naruto regained his focus. The red chakra disperced as Naruto turned towards his injured sensei. 'But--!', he gasped as suddenly he felt a jolt of pain from the earlier attack on his chest. Naruto collapsed on one knee as Kakashi got him.

Orochimaru laughed as he sensed victory on his hands. He immediately performed the hand seals to finish both of them. 'Futon, Dai--'

_Oh no... I can't summon any more chakra to protect both of us--!_, thought Kakashi in alarm as a flaxen-gold blur emerged in front of him. But before he could be glad to have someone come to their aid, he realized what... or who the person was! That cloak of ebony and crimson cloud. An Akatsuki member! Kakashi held the now-unconscious Naruto tightly as he sat frozen on the ground. But still, he couldn't believe what he saw---!

Orochimaru swore as he realized the true identity of the newcomer...

The leader of Akatsuki eyed him sternly as he smiled. 'What is it... Orochimaru? Surprised for the first time at seeing my true face--?', said the man as Orochimaru backed away...

_**Battle at the Standstill! The emergence of the Akatsuki leader-! What will become of Kakashi and Naruto?-!**_

(To be continued...)

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az: lol...(laughed maniacally) it's been a while since I did a fic that had a lot of actions. Not sure how it turns out. Review? There's too much of a battle scenes and had to use a lot of jutsus! I'm trying to research as much as I can to make this as near as how the manga flows like. Any ideas on jutsus or theories are welcomed. If it hits on what I wanted to write, it could strengthen the blur image that I have about this fic. Haha... and I was having an exam at the moment... lol.. and why I did this instead? XDXD

I tried beta-ing my own here. Though, my english proficiency tend to mix with random common use... so unless someone could proof-read me, pardon my imperfectness...


	2. Questions

az: Hmm... interesting... Somehow I grown to like Deidara more...

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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto manga or anything of it. If I OWNED it... will I be wasting my time here? Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Masashi Kishimoto-sama.

WARNING: Might give you weird ideas of possible shonen-ai pairings... but I'm not doing any pairings.

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Infinite spiral (Title due to change)

Questions

Written by Azzie/Az aka Izumi Ishtar

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'Naruto-! Kakashi-sensei!', cried Sasuke as he froze several steps before Yamato-taicho. As he saw before him, his brother Itachi and Kisame standing guard in a battle stance against Orochimaru. And behind them, another Akatsuki member kneeling over the fallen form of Kakashi and Naruto and appeared to be doing something towards them.

Sasuke felt the urge to rush towards them to save them but somehow, his body failed to respond. There's so much of the battle aura around him that it froze him on the spot. And somehow, Orochimaru turned towards him, noting his presence.

'Ah... Sasuke. Finally. At least even if I failed this second attempt in destroying Konoha, I'll have you--', said Orochimaru even in his injured state as he snickered. Sasuke cried in alarm as Yamato backed away a little as he tried to inch closer to protect Sasuke. Immediately, Itachi's form disappeared and reappeared in front of Yamato and Sasuke to the konoha-nins' surprise.

'I will not allow that.', said Itachi coldly as Sasuke suddenly felt the familiar presence of his once-beloved brother before the memory of the Uchiha massacre swept the feeling away. 'I did not kill off my entire clan and let my only brother live just so you can freely get him to achieve your devious plans. I know that you still feared my strength and knowing that it'll be easy to just get any member of the Uchiba to get the Sharingan ability, I've block your advance on the scheme!'

Sasuke stared on his brother's back as the new revelation shook him to the bone. Then... was that why he had let him live? Since he was stronger--? He killed off the entire clan to stop Orochimaru... just like that? Then what of those things that he had spoken to him before? Were all of that are lies? All that to force him to achieve the strength that he was destined to achieve-?

Orochimaru growled in anger as moments later, an injured Kabuto appeared beside him. 'Orochimaru-sama!', cried the four-eyed nin as he tried to heal his master's injuries.

'So you managed to slither out again... _traitor_? Hmm?'

Sasuke looked up towards the source of voice as Deidara hopped down beside Itachi from the back of the clay bird. Deidara sneered towards Kabuto. 'I will have my pleasure to punish you as Sasori-danna would have done. Certainly I will use my most artful creations to make the most beautiful display of art... unn...'

Itachi leered towards Deidara as he noticed Kabuto and Orochimaru started to look less confident. 'How's the _other_ task? We're leaving as soon as we're done here.', he said as Deidara snickered. 'Tobi, Zetsu and the others had already finish off the remaining Sound Five and left to base... umm... yeah. The ninjas of this old village of yours are quite good... yeah. I even met some of the Kazenins... hmm, even that former Shuukaku vessel. Finished off the lesser nins quite well without our intervention... unn... and those rats flee like mice, yes...,'

Sasuke and Yamato blinked at this exchange as they heard how the blond nin expressed its amusement (or was it... respect? No... admiration?) over the Konohagakure ninjas. Itachi nodded as both members flickered towards Kisame's side as they readied their positions to attack Orochimaru and Kabuto. 'So... all that is left is handling these two worms...', growled Kisame as he snickered. And about time too... he had enough of waiting for time to cut his Samehada into Orochimaru's flesh.

'Yeah... hehe...', said Deirdara, who had smiled gleefully as Itachi frowned as usual. The other Akatsuki finally stood as he walked towards the other three. 'Now... Orochimaru, time to settle this down. Return the Kuuchin ring to us since you are no longer part of us! Kisame! Itachi! Deidara!', said the unknown person as the three Akatsuki members split apart to attack. It finally dawned to Sasuke that this man is the leader of Akatsuki...

XXX

'Kabuto... what happened to our men?', asked Orochimaru as Kabuto panted. 'No good. With Jiraiya, Tsunade as well as backup coming from Sunagakure and the sudden appearance of Akatsuki to stop our approach, the ones remaining are forced to escape. And we lost some more people...'

Orochimaru sneered in distaste as he turned to find the three Akatsuki members approaching them in a lethal attack formation. 'Hiru Bansho! Boka no Jutsu...', he cried as he managed to defend against the attacks. But he hadn't noticed Deidara's clay birds approaching him from behind as they exploded in contact with him. Orochimaru staggered as the aftermath of the brief battle with the Akatsuki leader still rendered him weakened. Even then the thought of the fact that he hadn't been able to summon Yondaime from the dead before to fight with Sarutobi-sensei and now were because of the leader's existence, shook him with newfound fear. Fear that he had long not felt from other than Itachi...

Kabuto bit his lips as he knew that the two of them won't be able to make it out alive unless they flee. He immediately threw a flash bomb as Orochimaru launched his wind jutsu in order to escape--

XXX

'Cheh... I was about to present my master creation in honor of Sasori-danna too... unn...', sighed Deidara as their 'mice' had escaped them again. Itachi turned towards their leader. The leader was grim-faced. 'Regroup.', was the only reply as Kisame and Deidara immediately left. Yamato and Sasuke immediately tried to stop them as suddenly the Akatsuki leader emerged behind Yamato and knocked Yamato out.

When he turned, Itachi already knocked Sasuke out. With one parting glance towards Kakashi and Naruto, the leader turned towards the direction where Kisame and Deidara had gone as he reminded Itachi to leave. 'Itachi... let's leave...', said the blond man as Itachi lingered a little before Sasuke's fallen form.

To think that he had somehow let out the truth in front of him. Ah well... he had already severed all past ties that connected to his being. Sasuke now mattered no more to him...

With that thought settled, Itachi immediately left to join his comrades...

XXX

Sasuke opened his eyes slowly as his eyes got adjusted to the lights before jumping up awake. 'Sasuke--!', cried Sakura as he turned towards her in alarm. 'Oh no... Sakura! Naruto.. Kakashi-sensei! They--'

'They're all right. ', said Tsunade as she entered the room. Sasuke immediately got off from the bed as he shakily at first; before Sakura got up to support him, went out to look for Naruto and his sensei. Tsunade led them towards the hospital room where both Naruto and Kakashi had been placed in the intensive care unit. Both of them had the oxygen masks on as Sasuke gasped in alarm at the extend of their injuries. Naruto had half his head heavily bandaged while Kakashi had thick bandage over his chest. The latter had his mask off, but at the moment, it mattered none as he saw the pale faces of his comrades... barely alive.

'When we arrived at the scene, we saw you and Yamato lying unconscious nearby while Kakashi and Naruto had lay injured several meters away. It seemed that they had been fatally injured but I noticed that someone had seemed to have treated them before us. It puzzled us... along with some of the things that I'm informed--', explained Tsunade as she paused at the last sentence, hesitated whether she wanted to mention about the Akatsuki intrusion before Sasuke interrupted.

'It must have been that Akatsuki leader. He was leaning over them while my brother and two of his Akatsuki partner fought Orochimaru--'

'He's right. I was there when that man fought Orochimaru. But before I could reach Kakashi-senpai and Naruto, Uchiba Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame had arrived...', said Yamato as he leaned beside the wall. Tsunade frowned at this revelation. Akatsuki... aiding them this time and they hadn't taken Naruto away? What were their real objectives? Before this... they were so ruthless as to take the Shuukaku out of Gaara-kun and took a lot of lives in the process. And also of previous attempt on Naruto before?

Akatsuki Organization... are they our enemies... or allies?

'Made the count. We had took out a lot of Orochimaru's minions and Ne members. And based on what I got from Ibiki and ANBU, Danzou's lackeys that had survived were not that many...', said Jiraiya as he entered through the window. And noticing that there are several other visitors inside other than Tsunade he looked up, smiling as he greeted them. 'Yo!', he said as Tsunade scratched her head. 'Jiraiya... how many times must I tell you to enter like everyone else does?', she sighed as Jiraiya snickered. 'Until I've finally married you...', he teased as he frowned seeing Naruto's state and ran his firm hands over the lad's hair. He barely noticed Tsunade's flustered... (or angered?) look.

'Lucky he had survived. I won't forgive myself if anything happened to him. I won't be able to answer to the Fourth if it did...', said Jiraiya as Tsunade eyed him in concern.

But then a faint voice caught their attention as Jiraiya gasped. Weak hand got up and removed the face mask on him, as Naruto gave him the most annoyed look he could manage. 'I said, cut it off... Ero-sennin! I'm not going to die so easily like this. I still hadn't become Hokage, idiot!', said the lad as everyone cried aloud in surprise. Gaara smiled as he helped Naruto up. The lad looked at him in surprise as Gaara snickered. 'I'll hold you to those words. Or else I'll regret not being able to come in time to help...', said the former Shuukaku jinchuuriki as Sakura and Sasuke walked up towards him.

'Yo!', said Naruto as Sasuke and him greeted each other by knocking their fists together. A relieved smile carved onto his face as Sasuke spoke hoarsely. 'Idiot--!'

XXX

Naruto sighed as everyone finished telling their part of the story. 'So... everyone had a hard time, isn't it?', he said as the rest of them agreed. 'Yeah... everyone was a bit alarmed later when both of you were brought in after that. It had been a very tough battle after all...', said Gaara as Sasuke glanced at him. Since his last meeting him... the difference in personalities was very striking than the Gaara he saw right now.

'Everyone... eh?', said Naruto. He wondered if that included the rest of the villagers.

_'Hang on there... kido! I'll patch you up for now... you wait for help later...' _

Naruto looked up towards Gaara as he noticed that the fifth Kazekage looked more pleasant than before the time he still had the Shuukaku in him. Suddenly he felt as if Akatsuki had not been so bad. After all... that strange blond guy had tried healing him and Kakashi-sensei. And if not because of them, Gaara would still have Shuukaku sealed inside of him...

'Ne... Gaara. How's life now without that baka tanuki inside of you?', suddenly Naruto asked as Gaara shrugged. 'Okay... I guess...', came the reply.

From the other side of the room, Kakashi woke up and slowly turned his head towards the direction of the crowd. Sasuke and Sakura noticed him but kept quiet about it. Instead, they moved away a little to allow him to see the rest of them. Naruto glanced back towards his sheets as he contemplated Gaara's answer. His thoughts hovered over the scenes at the forest clearing again where in the brief gap when he had been conscious, he saw not only that Akatsuki guy nearby, but also of Uchiba Itachi, the shark guy and that person whom he thought already dead, who was good with clays. Uchiba Itachi and his partner...

He had remembered before, of them telling him that they had been assigned to kidnap him. But somehow this time, they had left without taking him away. Why--? They had wanted the Kyuubi so much before...

'Ne... Tsunade-baachan. What would it have been like if I had died after that fight? If I'm gone... Kyuubi will join in too.', said Naruto suddenly as Sakura cried aloud. 'Baka! And how about your promise with Chiyo-baasama?-!', she scolded as Sasuke looked at her in amazement. Tsunade smiled at her apprentice as she pushed Jiraiya aside to sit beside Naruto. She pulled the lad into a hug as Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. But then, the look on his face softened as he noticed that everyone around him looking appalled after he said that aloud.

'Err... gomen. My bad. I had been wondering... since they hadn't taken me away, this time. If they did...', Naruto let those words hang as Tsunade held him closely. He turned around as he saw pass Gaara, Sasuke and Sakura... of his sensei looking in as terrible shape as he is. 'Haii... sensei. Ohayou--!', he said as Kakashi waved weakly at him. Naruto chuckled as his eyes caught the guilty look from Sasuke's eyes. He frowned at him wondering why he had that look but Sasuke shook his head. Naruto turned towards Tsunade and Jiraiya as he mused. 'So... Orochimaru got away again... huh? Well... at least those Akatsuki people were enemies of him too...', he shrugged uncomfortably as his mind reverted back towards the vague face of the Akatsuki leader.

'Ano ne... Tsunade-baachan... Ero-sennin...', Naruto started to say as Jiraiya made a face about being called 'Ero' again with Tsunade looked at him in concern. Naruto turned towards Kakashi-sensei as he contemplated his thoughts. But on second thoughts, maybe he'll ask them later...

'Ahh... never mind...', said Naruto in the end as Kakashi frowned, thinking of the same thing. Tsunade noticed this silent exchange as her suspicions grew...

'Gaara--!', cried Temari as she entered the room with Kankurou. 'The rest of the nins had already headed back home so it leaves--', she said as she noticed Naruto was awake. 'Hiya... seemed Mr. 'Genin' had woke up!', greeted Kankurou as Naruto fumed. 'It's _Chuunin... _ you baka! Chuunin! I've passed the test recently!', the blond exclaimed as Kankurou chuckled. 'Haha... still full of energy.', he said as he placed a hand on Naruto's shoulders. 'We had been worried. 'Kid' here was so scared that you'd end up like him last time, when some of those Akatsuki showed up--', said Kankurou as Temari knocked her fist onto his head. 'Idiot! Gaara's still the Kazekage! Call him properly, baka...', she said as Gaara stood up.

'Guess... time for us to go.', he said after a while as Naruto shrugged. Temari and Kankurou also bade their farewells as the three siblings left the room to head back to Sunagakure...

XXX

'See you later... Naruto, Kakashi-sensei!', said Sakura as the last of the visitors left the room. Naruto sat quietly as he waited until he couldn't hear the voices of Sakura and Sasuke from the corridors. He sighed as he finally heard only the humming of a far-distance buz of the village and the chirpings of the birds. He slumped against the propped up pillow wondering about this uneasy feeling that had started to well up inside him. It bothered him a little, as he realized that at one point he'd even considered Akatsuki to be the part of the good guys. But they couldn't be... they did try to hurt them during their mission to save Gaara...

But then, Sakura had told him about how the Sasori-guy 'let' himself be killed by Chiyo-baasama...

'Oii... cut it off already. Go to sleep.'

Naruto immediately jumped as he glared towards his sensei. 'Gaahh! What the hell they put you beside me!-! Aah! Take your own advice--! You're in worser shape than me!', exclaimed Naruto as Kakashi chuckled. 'What ungrateful child... I had saved you from being skewered alive, and this is the thanks I got?'

'I didn't asked you to risk your own life to do that either...', mumbled Naruto as Kakashi glanced at him. He sighed. 'Well... call me stupid. I can't bear seeing... no, losing any more people that I cared most. I couldn't save a friend before... heck, I couldn't even help my former sensei before he goes off sacrificing himself. I swore that I'd do better... protecting those dear to me--'

Silence.

Naruto turned towards his sensei again before looking away. Kakashi took a brief peek at the other side without saying anything.

Silence again.

'Ne...'

Kakashi turned his head towards the lad.

'Ano... Kakashi-sensei. You... saw the guy too, didn't you?', asked Naruto as Kakashi's face paled. 'Yeah...', came the weak reply.

Naruto bit his lips. 'I-- I know it was impossible but... it can't be him, can he? He... felt familiar somehow. And when he had tried to heal my injuries... I couldn't, sense any ill feelings towards him. It's like... he really wanted to save me--', said Naruto as he looked towards his sensei in distress. Kakashi frowned again as he too felt the same. After all... with that kind of mortal wound, he should have died. But not only that person treated Naruto... he healed his injuries too! And the jutsus the guy used... a few were quite alien to him, but some of it were very familiar. Since he had often seen the jutsus used during all those times when he had grown from being a genin to jounin at the very young age under the tutelage of his sensei, who later become the fourth Hokage.

'But... yeah, it was almost impossible to think. Shiki Fuiin... the last jutsu he performed, will take the life of the person who perform the seal along with the one sealed. It's... impossible that one could still be alive...', Kakashi struggled to let the words out as that time, he had also wished that such miracle could happen...

But then, there was _that_ issue. 'Well... Naruto. Don't think about that so much. Go rest... baka!', scolded the jounin again as he threw bits of rolled up paper towards Naruto. All in all... he wouldn't want the kid to have his hopes up. Not that the kid knew about the other secret kept from him. 'Don't make me summon my Ninkens just to make you lie down...', he added while trying to divert his mind off the matter.

Naruto glared at him as he countered the paper wad. 'What--? Don't think I would lose! Oiroke no--'

'Okay... okay! Don't do that jutsu! Do you want to kill me or what--? Hey Naruto... since you had so much energy, help me get that Icha Icha book there...', said Kakashi as Naruto stared at him in disbelief. 'And now you want to kill youself by your own hand--?', he asked in return as Kakashi dismissed him. 'This was different...', muttered Kakashi as he looked around. '... by the way, I was bored...'

Naruto rolled his eyes at him as he summon a Kage Bunshin to get the book from the table for his sensei while muttering gibberish. 'Like I wasn't bored and you asked me to just sleep it off. Really... if you could go read that book... what am I supposed to do?'

Kakashi smiled as he got the book and pushed himself to sit in a more comfortable position. The Kage Bunshin disappeared in a puff of smoke as the jounin grinned at him. 'You could always read with me!', said the man giddily as his cheeks flushed a little. Naruto glared at him in horror as he started shouting some incoherent blabber...

XXX

Jiraiya immediately left using his Toton no Jutsu as Tsunade waited at her place. 'So--?', she asked as Jiraiya spoke grimly. 'It seemed the story matched somehow. From what I gathered from their little talk... it seemed that this Akatsuki leader had a very strong resemblance to Arashi...'

Tsunade frowned as her suspicions earlier were proven. Even then, she didn't want it to be true. 'How... what's going on Jiraiya? I-- not sure how to interpret all this. Not only of Akatsuki's strange behavior... it's also about this new seal...'

'Is that seal harmful?', asked Jiraiya worriedly as Tsunade shook her head. 'No... the new ones seemed to reinforce the two Shisho Fuiin. That's... what troubling me.', said Tsunade dejectedly as Jiraiya nodded in understanding. 'Akatsuki... what are their motives...', mused the Toad Sannin as both of them glanced towards the remaining potrait of Yondaime with numerous questions in mind...

(To be continued...)

* * *

az: Hmm... okay. Got all that out. 


End file.
